back. back. before this sudden development, it would have been hard to find anyone in washington admired as much as petraeus. the former general led the war in iraq and the war in afghanistan. he is a scholar known for his calm, steady advice to presidents. we begin our coverage of this breaking story with nancy cordes at the white house tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, white house officials say petraeus came here to the white house yesterday afternoon to meet with the president in person and offer his resignation. the president asked for a night to think it over, to talk with top aides and today in the a phone call with petraeus, he accepted it. the resignation is effective immediately. just 14 months after petraeus was sworn in as director of the c.i.a. with his wife at his side. in a statement to c.i.a. employees today, petraeus said:

that statement was followed a few minutes later by this one from the president who said he had accepted petraeus' resignation and that: it happened so suddenly even the white house press secretary seemed taken by surprise. >> the president has -- believed that general petraeus is doing and has done an excellent job but i don't have any personnel announcements to make from here today. >> reporter: the scandal comes at a sensitive time for petraeus and the c.i.a., one week before petraeus was scheduled to testify in closed-door congressional hearings about the c.i.a.'s role in fending off an attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, which left the u.s. ambassador and two c.i.a.

contractors dead. petraeus met his wife holly when he was a cadet at west point. she's a top appointee at the new consumer protection financial bureau. petraeus often describes her as "bright, nice, and a pit bull. someone you want in your corner." the deputy director of the c.i.a., michael more thell has been described as acting director, white house officials describe him as a total pro, an all star who advised the president on his decision to raid osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. so morell it would seem is on the short list to replace petraeus. white house officials insist tonight, scott, they knew nothing about petraeus' infidelity or this f.b.i. investigation until wednesday, the day after the presidential election. >> pelley: nancy, thanks very much. we're joined by senior conquer respondent john miller, who's been talking to his sources on the story. john, why would the f.b.i. be investigating the communications of the director of the c.i.a.? >> normally that wouldn't be the

case. what is much more likely here is that the communications of someone else-- possibly in a foreign country that are now touching the c.i.a. director's communications-- would rise to their attention. and then what happens here is they're looking at these messages and they seem to be cryptic in pitch that cher raises the question, all right, well, who is this person, what are these communications about, why are they scrip tick? that's how the snowball rolls down the hill. >> >> pelley: so in the normal course of business the f.b.i. and counterintelligence is looking for penetration of the c.i.a. and its communications systems? >> exactly. to have it on this level is not only extraordinarily rare it's unprecedented. >> pelley: i wonder if your sources are telling you about anything about whether any classified information or national secrets were divulged in any of this? >> they're quite definitive on that. they say while initial conversations raised suspicions about what is this about, who's involved here, no classified

information, no security violations and certainly nothing that would constitute a violation of law or anything criminal. and in the end, scott, what you have here is at some point when they've gathered all the string, they sit down with director petraeus and they ask the questions and he tells the story and, as you know, in washington an extra marital affair is not necessarily a kill shot to a career. so it seems that this course was probably largely his decision. >> pelley: john, thanks very much. with this coming on the heels of the election, our chief washington correspondent bob schieffer asked the president's top political advisor, david axelrod, whether the white house knew about any of this before the election. >> did the white house -- did the president have any knowledge or advanced word this was coming? >> my understanding is no. that general petraeus came in after the election some time

later in the week and tendered his resignation. the president accepted his judgment that that was best. it certainly wasn't performance related. he has done an outstanding job in that role. >> pelley: you can see the rest of the interview with axelrod on "face the nation" with bob schieffer this sunday. petraeus turns 60 two days ago. after west point, he rose to the top combat commands in the army. in 2003, he led the 101st airborne in the advance on baghdad. he rewrote the blueprint for afghanistan, the military's counterinsurgency doctrine, emphasizing the protection of the civilian population from violence. in 2007, president bush ordered him to take command in iraq and in 2010 president obama put him in charge in afghanistan. last year petraeus retired from the military to become director of central intelligence.

the c.i.a. came of age during the cold war, but its role has changed dramatically since 9/11 and we asked david martin to look into that. >> reporter: as head of the c.i.a., david petraeus directed a covert war which required him to make almost daily decisions of life and death. he commanded the drone war against terrorist safe havens in pakistan and yemen which killed hundreds of suspected militants. and he gave the order which is sent a c.i.a. team fly into benghazi in a vain attempt to rescue americans. two members of that team-- both of them, like petraeus-- retired military, were killed on that mission. overnight he went from the best known and great estrogen of his generation to covert warrior. he said he campaigned for the job. >> i wanted this job. this was not a month or two or three in the making.

>> reporter: the c.i.a. had been on the front lines since 9/11 when an agency team went into afghanistan ahead of the pentagon's special forces. one of the first to die was c.i.a. officer michael spann. one of the worst days occurred when a suicide bomber killed eight c.i.a. employees. and it was the c.i.a., under leon panetta, which ran the mission that killed bin laden. although the raid itself was carried out by the u.s. military. when petraeus took over, he promised not to turn the c.i.a. into another military organization. >> i'm taking off the uniform that i've worn proudly for 37 years to do this job, i think, in the right way. >> pelley: at the start of the iraq war, petraeus asked the now famous question "tell me how this ends." when he said that, he surely could not have imagined how his own career would end. >> pelley: david, thank you. barely three days after winning reelection, the president said today it is time to get back to work and job one is trying to work out a deal with republicans

who control the house to cut the federal deficit by the end of the year to avoid that so-called fiscal cliff. >> i want to be clear: i'm not wedding to every detail of my plan. i'm open to compromise. i'm open to new ideas. i'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges. but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. i'm not going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. (applause) i'm not going to do that. >> pelley: that fiscal cliff we mentioned is the package of sharp tax increases and huge across-the-board spending cuts that will go into effect automatically january 1 unless there is a deal to cut the deficit. wyatt andrews has the latest on

that tonight. wyatt? >> reporter: scott, the speaker today flat out rejected the president's demand for higher tax rates on the wealthy. the speaker said "those higher tax rates would slow down the economy and our ability to create jobs." but, scott, there is also some wiggle room here because boehner has put new tax revenues on the table. so i asked the speaker today: what is the difference between rates and revenues? and he explained republicans might raise revenues by cutting tax detections. could you give us an idea, any more examples of where you're going with that? because if tax rates are not on the table, are you talking about going after deductions? >> it's clear that there are a lot of special interest loopholes in the tax code-- both corporate and personal. it's also clear that there are all kinds of deductions, some of which makes sense, others don't. >> reporter: two of the biggest deductions in the tax code are the mortgage interest tax deduction and the health insurance that workers get from

their employers tax free. what boehner is suggesting was proposed by mitt romney in the campaign. essentially raising taxes on the rich by limiting what they take off their taxes. the president has dismissed this approach before because these same deductions also help the middle-class. so what we're seeing now is a classic negotiation, scott. both sides spent day sounding tough while they were also sending singh malls on where they might find common ground. >> pelley: wyatt, thank you very much. we'll call in bob schieffer and ask the question. bob, do you think they can make a deal? >> well, it's hard to say. what we saw today, scott, was simply both sides laying down their opening markers. both sides were very courts you and civil and that is rare these days but i think what we saw underlined today was not that they are coming together but just how far apart the two sides are. i didn't see either side give an inch. but this is just the beginning

of the beginning. the real work will probably have to be done behind closed doors and i think it's going to be a while before we know if anything is possible. this is going to be a very tall mountain to climb. >> pelley: we'll be watching "face the nation" sunday, bob. thank you. thousands lost everything in sandy. we're going to show you the camp that soon will be home. and a pilot who had a midair meltdown is released from custody when the "cbs evening news" continues. teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy.

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>> pelley: hurricane sandy because blamed for two more deaths. 433 homes and businesses are still without power and tens of thousands lost everything they had. mark strassmann is ocean port, new jersey tonight. mark? >> reporter: scott. this mini city is a state-run shelter camp, a series of tents that stretches across 40 acres in the parking lot of a racetrack. it's in partnership with fema's disaster response here along with hundreds of mobile homes now on their way to areas devastated by sandy. this is the evacuee mess hall? >> yes. >> reporter: fema took us inside the camp, complete with hot meals and hot showers. it was built for utility workers a week ago. it now houses 4,000 utility workers, first responders, and contractors in large, heated tents. >> we have some linemen from

canada that are here. the other people are processing in. >> reporter: but 200 storm victims also live here now. more show up everyday. >> we're here to assist them and we're going to do everything possible to help them along the way. >> reporter: fema hopes to relocate the evacuees within a couple days to other temporary housing. and the goal of everybody in this room essentially is to get -- >> get the power back on, get into housing and close this facility down. >> reporter: but 11 days after sandy, thousands of storm victims along the coast still haven't seen the damage to their homes. >> total devastation, actually, in my house. it's -- the total police has to be gutted. >> reporter: karen hutchinson got her first chance today along with 300 residents bussed into seaside heights and seaside park, new jersey. they were allowed two hours to survey the damage and return with two suitcases of belongings. >> the whole first floor was -- the water went over the bed, the kitchen, everything's just torn

apart. >> reporter: 324,000 new york, new jersey, and connecticut storm victims have applied to fema for help with rentals and home repairs. they can qualify for up to 18 months of housing help, a cap of $31,900. but in new jersey, no one knows the true scope of the housing need. your numbers will only go up is what's expected? >> that's definitely. they will increase. more people were registered, we'll have more opportunity to conduct inspections and verify the losses that people have had. and help them with that beginning step. >> reporter: the shelter camp is only contracted to be here for another week, although that could be extented. scott, there's another camp just like this one in northern new jersey and in new york they're talking about building another one on long island. >> pelley: thanks very much, mark. a bank robbery suspect has been cornered after a high speed chase. what happened next in a moment. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

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said today that 11,000 syrians have fled their country and its civil for what the past 24 hours. this amateur video provides a glimpse of what they're escaping. a market in eastern syria was apparently hit by a mortar. at least 15 people were killed there. syria's dictator, bashar al-assad, is trying to crush a rebellion that broke out 19 months ago. that jetblue pilot who had a midair meltdown earlier this year was released from federal

custody today, but a texas judge ordered clayton osbon not to fly or board an aircraft. back in march, osbon ran through the cabin and ranted about terrorists before being subdued by passengers. in july, he was found not guilty of disrupting a flight crew by reason of insanity. a bank robbery came to an end in california today in a dramatic way. a t.v. station helicopter captured the high-speed getaway with police in pursuit. the chase ended in a residential neighborhood 70 miles north of l.a. after a brief standoff, authorities say a man took a shot at the deputies and they immediately returned fire, killing him. a young man learns the hard way he is no match for a hurricane. steve hartman's "on the road." ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults

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>> pelley: as hurricane sandy was approaching a couple of weeks ago, people in low-lying areas were warned to leave, and most did. in tonight's "on the road," steve hartman has the story of one man who did not-- and lived to tell the tale. barely. >> reporter: the hurricane killed 125 people. >> i shouldn't be talking to you right now. >> reporter: mike iann was

almost 126. >> i'm so thankful to be ton here. >> reporter: the night of the storm mike was alone at his grant father's house in tom's river, new jersey. >> save the house by any means. >> reporter: you thought you were going to save the house? >> a little water in the house. i had buckets. i didn't think the whole thing was going to go underneath the water. >> reporter: but it did. and he did. >> i've never been so cold in my life. >> reporter: up to his neck. >> i had my phone -- god. i called my dad, i was like, "dad, i ain't making it, man, the water's so high right now. i love you." i'm like "i miss you." i'm like "i'm going to try my best to survive but i really don't think it's happening." and i'm screaming "i screwed up, i should have never stayed here, i should have listened to you. i'm sorry, i'm sorry." i'm like "the water's so deep." i'm like "dad, i've got to go." >> when he hung up, i started to cry. i said "it's over, he's not coming back."

>> reporter: his dad tony didn't hear from him again for eight hours-- a living hell surpassed only by what his son went through that night. >> this is where the kitchen was. >> reporter: after the house partially collapsed, mike fled the building and was swept away. >> i was way out there. way out there. >> reporter: for marathon three hours he got beaten and battered by waves and debris before washing up alongside an empty house. he went inside. now out of the water but still freezing to death. he sat down by this window and wrote a final letter for his dad. >> i just wanted my dad to know that i went to this house and that i tried to survive, i did almost everything i can, i just -- i just didn't give up when i ended the phone call. >> reporter: did you know you loved your dad this much? >> i did. but when you think you're gonna die you really think about who means the most to you. >> reporter: mike's parents got divorce when he was a kid. his dad raised him alone. they were close. less so, they say, in recent

years, but certainly more so since mike got rescued. a guy on a jetski finally found him. >> he hugged me like he never hugged me before. that's for sure. he hugged me like he was a kid again. >> two grown men crying, hugging each other. it's -- >> reporter: your relationship will dad will never be the same. >> oh, no. i don't want to leave his side. i'm 28 years old, i don't even want to leave his side. >> reporter: obviously no one wants to go what they've gone through. but wouldn't it be nice if everyone could live like they almost died? >> thank god. >> reporter: steve hard man, "on the road" in tom's river, new jersey. >> i love you, dad. >> i love you, too. i love you. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. we leave you now with the statue of liberty illuminated for the first time since the hurricane. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is 9 news now. tonight the white house announces the resignation of cia director david petraeus after an extramarital affair. this is the story that's been coming out in bits and pieces all afternoon long, but now we are learning the fbi had begun an investigation prior to this announcement trying to see if america's national security had been compromised. gary newenberg has been following this still developing story and he has the latest. >> reporter: stories like this often come as surprise, but it's not a cliche to use the word shock in this case. petraeus had a squeaky clean reputation as a by the book career general who climbed the military ladder quickly with success